Gazette wins nine Mississippi Press group awards

The New Albany Gazette has won nine awards in the annual advertising division of the Mississippi Press Association Better Newspaper Contest.

Competing in the mid-size non-daily category, the Gazette was honored with three first-place awards, one second-place award, four third-place awards and an honorable mention. The Gazette’s annual tourism and community guide, Explore magazine, received two of the first-place awards, one for being the best magazine product among small and mid-size non-daily newspapers, and another for the best new revenue generation idea among all non-daily newspapers in the state. Contest judges said Explore magazine, which publishes in June, was “well organized. Layout and typesetting were professional. Photography was good. Ads were well done.” “We are honored that this magazine was judged the best in its first year of publication,” said T. Wayne Mitchell, Gazette publisher. “It represents a lot of hard work by our news, advertising and graphics staffs as well as community contributors.” The Gazette also won first place for Best Print Quality among all non-daily newspapers in the state. Mike Foster, production manager, and Chris Knox, press operator, handle the press work done by the Gazette, both for the newspaper and for a number of commercial printing customers. Matt Bishop, an advertising sales representative, and Ian McKee of creative services received a second-place award for Best Magazine ad. Jennifer Jones, an advertising sales representative, and McKee received the third place award in the same category. Jones and McKee were recognized with a third-place award in the Best Color Grocery/Restaurant ad category. Bishop and McKee received third-place awards for Best Color Retail ad and Best Black-and-White Retail ad, as well as an honorable mention for Best Color Retail ad. “We have a good team here at the Gazette,” Mitchell said. “Their efforts and the strong support from the community have resulted in the paper having an excellent year in both revenue and readership.” The awards were given during a luncheon Saturday at the association’s annual winter convention in Jackson. Judging of the Mississippi contest was done by member newspapers of the Arkansas Press Association.